Pyromorphite

Well crystallized Pyromorphite with large, chunky yellow/green crystals to lightly over 1cm in size. The crystals grew over and around a white Quartz matrix. Most are double-terminated and I can only find one that is not perfect. Mining in this area dates back to the Roman Empire with the first underground mines recorded in 1158. The mine was expanded in 1871 under operation of the Bad Ems Lead and Silver Works, Inc. and mining ceased in 1945. This specimen could be well over a hundred years old! From the Carl Bosch collection (B10594) and comes with an old label from the US National Museum (Smithsonian).